On Friday, September 25, at 7 pm, I’ll be joining a group of exciting poets and musicians for a reading at the Mansion Parlor of Media Borough Hall (3rd & Jackson St.- Media, PA):

Poets:
Ashraf Osman
Brian Sammond
Lisa DeVuona (accompanied by Joseph Nocella)

Musicians:
Tom Mullian
Johnny Never
Silver Wind (Jackie Newman & Mike Mascia)

Hosted by Arlene Arlene Bernstein, the formal program will be followed by an Open Mic. Refreshments will be served, and you’ll be able to converse with congenial and interesting people. Come join us & bring your friends! There’s lots of Parking!

Co-sponsored by the Media Upper Providence Library & Mad Poets Society.

Ashraf Osman was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon and has been living in Philadelphia since 2002 where he works as an architect. Ashraf has been engaged in online poetry since 2002: in addition to his award-winning personal poetry blog, arch.memory, Ashraf hosts a website of Philadelphia poetry links and calendars called PhillyPoetry.com. His poetry has been featured in the Mad Poets Review, Comstock Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal and Islamica magazine, and has been selected for inclusion in several anthologies including Queering Language and The Other Voices International Project.

Brian Markley is an emerging song writer and musician from South Jersey. While being classically trained on the trumpet for over twenty years, Brian has studied and explored other instruments such as the guitar, mandolin, piano, and harmonica, as well as various tribal instruments such as the didgeridoo and wooden flute. His musical journey has taken him on both American and European tours and has afforded him opportunities to work with and learn from accomplished musicians such as Frank Foster, Dennis DeBlasio, Maynard Ferguson, Nathan Davis, Toby Lightman, and other rising South Jersey artists. These experiences have inspired him to pursue a very eclectic approach to music incorporating acoustic, funk, spoken word, bluegrass, political folk, hip-hop, reggae, rock, country, blues, and of course jazz.

* To sign up for the open mic, or if you have any questions please email allavilnyanskaya@earthlink.net
* Blue Bananas Café can validate parking at Abbott Square Parking Lot, 3rd & South. ($4.00 to park all night!)

What:
Playgrounds for Palestine is hosting a Gala for the benefit of the children of Gaza. The evening will feature a concert by renowned Lebanese singer/songwriter May Nasr. (You can listen to her music online. Her voice is mesmerizing!) Trained by Zaki Nassif, a composer for Fairuz, she is one of the few artists who can truly sing Fairuz songs with their full meaning and liveliness. It was the knowledge of this potential that brought Zaki Nassif out of retirement upon hearing May’s voice.

Why:
Because we want to bring joy to children in Gaza.
Because we believe that they deserve to play.
Because they have suffered what no child should suffer.
Because we have so much to give, even in this economy.
Because building playgrounds is an act of Love.

When:
Sunday, May 3rd @ 4-9pm

Where:
ACE Conference Center
800 Ridge Pike
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444
610-825-8000

How much:
Adults: $85
Children, Seniors, Students: $50

What else:
Dinner, raffles, silent auction, children’s activities, music, community, awards, and more.

For more information, go to http://www.playgroundsforpalestine.org/news.php?ID=46 or call 267.391.5386.

Featuring: Middle Eastern Food

Presentations: Dr. Labiq Syed & Dr. Labib Syed, brothers out of John Hopkins & members of the Islamic Medical Association of North America, who recently traveled overseas to provide care in war-torn Gaza and will share information about their trip.

Informational Loop Presentation created by Aine Fox

Spoken Word: Poets Aysha El Shamayleh & Ashraf Osman

Music by: Paddy Corcoran (of Paddy and the Hostages)

Tickets:
$10 – General Admission
$25 & Above – Solidarity
$5 for unemployed & students

Call 215-724-1618 or email phillyiac@action-mail.org for ticket information or to make reservations.

All proceeds go to the Emergency Gaza Appeal of the United Palestinian Appeal

Sponsors:
Philadelphia International Action Center
EON (End Oppression Now)
PRAWN (Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network)
FIST (Fight Imperialism Stand Together)

I am thrilled to let you know that, amid all the rejections I garnered this fall, I had one bright spot of good news: my poems Tired and The Coming were chosen by the Comstock Review as Poems of Special Merit in the 2008 Muriel Craft Bailey Award Contest. They were two of the twenty-six poems that were sent on to the final Judge this year, one of my all time favorites, the incomparable Marie Howe!

Here’s an excerpt from the e-mail from the Comstock Review’s Managing Editor, John M. Bellinger:

We had an outstanding group of poems this year, and to land anywhere near the top of the thousands of entries we received is an accomplishment to be proud of. All of the top poems ranked very closely in overall score, and I am certain Ms. Howe will have a tough decision on her hands in awarding the top three prizes.

As Poems of Special Merit, my poems will be published in issue 22.2 of The Comstock Review, due out in January of 2009. You can find a list of all Winners, Poems of Special Merit, and Finalists on the journal’s website at:
http://www.comstockreview.org/contestwinners.html

You can see me read Tired here. Thank you, Comstock Review! Please support the journal by subscribing today.

I will be reading at Robin’s Bookstore on Tuesday, November 11 at 6pm. The reading is part of the bookstore’s Moonstone Poetry Series, features Hanoch Guy, and is coordinated by Justin Vitiello. An open reading will follow:
http://www.robinsbookstore.com/events/111108.html

I will be reading tonight, Friday, October 03 2008, between 6:30-10:00 pm, part of the Mad Poets Society at the Main Line First Friday. The reading will be at:
Suburban Office Equipment
49 E. Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore, PA 19003
610.896.7022

I will be reading along with RICHARD S. BANK, DAVID W. WORREL & EILEEN M. D’ANGELO, Editor of the Mad Poets Review and Director of the Mad Poets Society. For more information, see: www.firstfridaymainline.com/events.asp

I will be reading at the Mad Poets Festival, which is on Sunday, October 5 2008, from 12 pm – 5 pm at the Media Borough Hall (at 3rd & Jackson Streets in Media, PA). I’ll be in the last set which features Leonard Gontarek, Richard Bank, Ray Greenblatt, Alison Hicks, Amy Laub, and lots of other great local poets!

Since 1987, the Mad Poets Society has proudly hosted the Festival on the first Sunday in October, in conjunction with the Media Food & Arts Festival (which packs State St. in downtown Media with a wide variety arts, crafts, live music, and fresh food). The Mad Poets Festival features five hours of short readings (approx. 5 minutes) by 40 locally and nationally known poets, followed by a reception.

There will also be munchies. But you can walk up to State Street (only two blocks or so) and be at the Media Food Festival where there’s lots of good food, bands in the streets, etc. So come to town early, catch some poetry, run up to the fair, eat yummy stuff, and be back in time to hear me read! It’s a party, get together day.

And if you want to read your work at this special event, contact Eileen D’Angelo at madpoets@comcast.net.

Join me on Saturday, October 11 2008, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm at McMichael Park in East Falls (Henry Ave & Coulter – Philadelphia, PA 19129) where poets from nearby neighborhoods gather to celebrate the diversity of our community. Here’s the schedule:

1:00 — Intro/Welcome/General Plug for author books, etc.

1:05 — PETER KROK, editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal and humanities/poetry director of the Manayunk Art Center

1:15 — PHYLINDA REYNOLDS, native Oklahoman and current Germantonian

1:25 — SYDNEY COFFIN, East Falls resident and University City High School English teacher

1:35 — YOLANDA WISHER, Germantown Friends School English teacher

1:45 — ASHRAF OSMAN, Mount Airy resident and administrator of PhillyPoetry.com

1:55 — Catch-up/Reintroduce event/Plug author books, events, etc.

2:00 — DONNA WOLF-PALACIO, UArts workshop leader and author of an Academy of Fine Arts’ Print Award-winning book of translated and illustrated Chinese poems

2:10 — MIKE COHEN, host of Poetry Aloud and Alive at Big Blue Marble in Mount Airy

2:20 — MELISSA DEGEZELLE, Manayunk resident and new mother

2:30 — HAL SIROWITZ, author of Mother Said, the best-selling translated book of poetry in Norway

2:40 — TRAPETA MAYSON, Germantown resident and Pew and PCA fellow and Leeway awardee

2:50 — Closing/Plugs/Spillover/etc.

For more info:
www.eastfallscommunity.org/fallfestschedule08.htm

I will be reading tomorrow, Sunday April 27th, at 3:00 pm at the Fairmount Arts Crawl‘s “Poetry Corner” at Ward Park, on 24th & Aspen Streets. You can find a full listing of the program at the Events page of the site. I hope to see you there!

Program:

1. What Remains
2. We Did
3. A Dozen
4. Nudity
5. Reasons
6. Home
7. Nothing